The Future Is Here With Futurama: The Complete Collection

You can’t stop Matt Groening. Not only is The Simpsons a never-ending series, but now it seems as though Futurama is following in its footsteps. The show, which premiered on Fox in March of 1999, ran for four seasons before being dropped from the lineup in 2003. Comedy Central acquired exclusive cable syndication rights in 2002 and in 2005 committed to airing all 72 episodes after the original contract was set to expire. Most recently, and most significantly, Comedy Central announced they picked up the show for 26 brand-new episodes. Boasting over 1,900 minutes of material, Futurama: The Complete Collection will hold you over until the new episodes begin airing in mid 2010.

The sci-fi sitcom focuses on the adventures of Philip J. Fry (Billy West), a New York City pizza delivery boy who is cryogenically frozen and thawed thousands of years later. In the 31st century, he meets a one-eyed career counselor named Leela (Katey Segal), an alcohol-and-cigar-obsessed robot named Bender, and his future nephew, Professor Farnsworth (also Billy West). The four wind up working together at the Planet Express delivery service, bringing packages all across the universe.

This set is certainly for the die-hard fan. For $199.98, you get all 72 episodes, four feature-length films, and a significant amount of bonus material, including commentary, deleted scenes, and a number of featurettes. If you’re just looking to give the show a test run to decide whether or not to tune in for the new season, I suggest just picking up a single-season DVD. On the other hand, if you’re a long-time fan, this 19-disc set is a must-have. Hopefully you’ll have the cash handy when it’s released on October 13th, because Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is only producing 25,000 copies. For those of you who have already bought the entire Futurama series on DVD, you can opt to buy just the collectable Bender head The Complete Selection will come in.

If I mentioned every bit of material this set includes, you’d be reading until the year 2999. For a look at all of the DVD specs, check out the list below.

Disc One

Episodes

"Space Pilot 3000"

"The Series Has Landed"

"I, Roommate"

"Love's Labours Lost In Space"

Special Features

Commentary

Animatics for "Space Pilot 3000"

Deleted Scenes

Script/Storyboard for "Space Pilot 3000"

Disc Two

Episodes

"Fear Of A Bot Planet"

"A Fishful Of Dollars"

"My Three Suns"

"A Big Piece of Garbage"

"Hell Is Other Robots"

Special Features

Commentary

Deleted Scenes

Disc Three

Episodes

"A Flight to Remember"

"Mars University"

"When Aliens Attack"

"Fry and the Slurm Factory"

Special Features

Commentary

Featurette

Deleted Scenes

Interactive Still Gallery

Disc Four

Episodes

"I Second That Emotion"

"Brannigan, Begin Again"

"A Head In The Polls"

"Xmas Story"

"Why Must I Be a Crustacean In Love?"

Special Features

Commentary

Animatics

Deleted Scenes

Easter Egg

Disc Five

Episodes

"The Lesser of Two Evils"

"Put Your Head on My Shoulders"

"Raging Bender"

"A Bicyclops Built for Two"

"A Clone of My Own"

Special Features

Commentary

Deleted Scenes

2 Easter Eggs

Disc Six

Episodes

"How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back"

"The Deep South"

"Bender Gets Made"

"Mother's Day"

"The Problem With Popplers"

Special Features

Deleted Scenes

2 Easter Eggs

Futurama Video Game Trailer

Disc Seven

Episodes

"Anthology of Interest I"

"War Is the H-Word"

"The Honking"

"The Cryonic Woman"

Special Features

Commentary

Still Gallery/Concept Art

Alien Alphabet

Deleted Scenes

2 Easter Eggs

Disc Eight

Episodes

"Amazon Women in the Mood"

"Parasites Lost"

"A Tale of Two Santas"

"The Luck of the Fryrish"

"The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz"

"Bendless Love"

Special Features

Commentary

Gallery of Storyboard Images for "Parasites Lost"

Deleted Scenes

3 Easter Eggs

David X. Cohen Introduction

"A Table of Two Santas" Table Read

Alternate Show Opening Quotes

Disc Nine

Episodes

"The Day the Earth Stood Stupid"

"That's Lobstertainment!"

"The Cyber House Rules"

"Where the Buggalo Roam"

"Insane in the Mainframe"

"The Route of All Evil"

Special Features

Commentary

Deleted Scenes

Disc 10

Episodes

"Bendin' in the Wind"

"Time Keeps on Slipping"

"I Dated a Robot"

"A Leela of Her Own"

"A Pharaoh to Remember"

Special Features:

Commentary

Deleted Scenes

Disc 11

Episodes

"Anthology of Interest II"

"Roswell That Ends Well"

"Godfellas"

"Future Stock"

"The 30% Iron Chef"

Special Features:

Commentary

Still Gallery/Character Art

"How to Draw Characters" Galleries

80 Static Images

"Anthology of Interest, Part II" Animatic

"Roswell That Ends Well" International Clip With Alternate Animation Commentary